count to ten
by Ten-Faced
Summary: It didn't shift her life too dramatically, but Lou Ellen subtly changed in the ten moments with Connor Stoll. -ConnorLouEllen


This pairing is REALLY underappreciated.

With a theme of numbers...sorta.

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1. _first impressions_

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Lou Ellen met him when she came to camp.

"Hi, I'm Connor," he said, and the mischievous smile, and the fact that he was a son of Hermes (thank God – or _gods_ – for her early Greek Mythology obsession) made her mistrust him.

But there's a certain charm that he has, she admits, and sharing a cabin with him and the many other unclaimed – as well as minor and Hermes demigods – is quite interesting, to say the very least.

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2. _second chances_

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So he's labeled as a troublemaker. Far worse than the rest of the cabin – excluding his brother Travis, of course – he's definitely something to look out for.

Lou gets another chance to be actually acquainted with him when her mother – Hecate, Goddess of Witchcraft and Magic – claims her after a week of being at camp.

She feels bitter at the fact that she'll be in the overcrowded Hermes Cabin for the rest of her Camp life, because apparently, her mother isn't appreciated enough to get a Cabin of her own.

Connor comes to her after dinner while she sits near the tree that used to house Thalia, daughter of Zeus. "You're a daughter of Hecate?" he asks, despite the fact that he had been there when a glowing symbol had lit up the top of her head like a star on a Christmas tree. "Cool, I've never met one."

And it's nice to give him a better impression, and the sting of being only a minor demigod is soothed.

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3. _third time's the charm_

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While Water Boy is off in the Labyrinth with the satyr, Cyclops and Athena girl, Lou Ellen bumps into Connor again. Literarily.

"Ouch!" as he rubs his head, he drops the large bucket, splashing the contents onto the ground between them.

From the way the grass died, she suspects it was meant for the Demeter Cabin.

"Great, Travis will kill me," he groans, but doesn't accuse her, or blame her for the fall of his plans.

She waves her hand, and the liquid drains out of the ground and splashes right back into the bucket, leaving it full with the plant-poison. It makes her tired, using the magic in her blood.

It's still worth it to see the reverent look on Connor's face. "Hey, thanks, Lou!" he beams, and she turns her head to hide her blushing face.

And even more worth it to know that he remembers her.

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4. _forced fourth_

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For a lot of demigods in Cabin Eleven, some kind of secret offers were being made. At least, that's what Lou Ellen guessed. For her, a message from her mother had come, along with a charm bracelet that turned into a magic spear if you twisted the little charm to the left.

_Join Kronos_, she whispered, and Lou didn't really have much of a choice.

As she crossed the borders, she knew Connor had seen her leave after grabbing her things. He didn't stop her, or force her to do anything, and she silently thanked him for that.

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5. _freaky fifth_

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Of course, out of all the possible places for her to have to attack, the army she was in would have to attack Manhattan Bridge, where he just happens to be.

"Hey, Lou!" Connor is disgustingly cheerful as his sword parries her spear. She grunts in reply, focused on where he might attack. He's not Luke, but he's pretty decent with a sword. Sadly, Lou Ellen lacks the skills, and is barely mediocre without her magic backing her up.

"How come you're not blasting me with your magic?" he questions her, as if they need to make conversation while trying to kill each other. Actually, she just wants to knock him out, but she can't say the same for Connor.

"I don't want to hurt you," she replies in clipped tones. "Hades, I don't want to _fight_!"

"Then don't," he suggests, idly flicking away the tip of her spear from his face.

She snorts. "Like I can do that while I'm in Kronos' army."

Connor smiles at her, as if they're not fighting. "Camp Half-Blood is always open for you."

Before she can say anything to that, the leader of her army sends the signal to retreat. Reluctantly, she disengages and flees the sight, but his words echo in her head, haunting her like a ghost out for mischief.

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6. _solitary sixths_

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Lou Ellen runs away.

She knows it's cowardly, the army of the Titans will kill her, and her mother will be disappointed –furious, even – with her, but she no longer cares.

Sitting hidden in the park, she watches satyrs, nymphs and wood spirits fight against Hyperion, and secretly sends some of her own magic into the process of turning the Titan of the East into a maple tree.

No one notices her, but she sees Connor run past the lines back to Olympus, and silently wishes him luck.

Hopefully, he won't be alone like her.

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7. _lucky seven_

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The war is reaching its end. She feels her mother's magic withdraw, forcing Kronos to limit the time-warping magic to the entrance of Olympus, and raises her eyebrows in curiosity.

Mortals wake, Hades and zombies join the chaos, and she's quite confused on what to do, so she just stays on the rooftop of the building, watching and occasionally sending a bolt of magic at Kronos' Army – the enemy now, not her allies.

A Hyperborean giant is killed by a Hunter, and the head falls onto the building she's on. Lou has a chance to scream once before the shockwaves throw her off.

By sheer luck, she lands on Connor.

"Ouch! Dropping by to see me?" and just like that, he accepts her into Camp.

She's quite lucky to know him.

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8. _eighth hour_

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At campfire, there are a lot of burial shrouds going up in flames.

Lou can't face them, and the guilt and shame is killing her. How can they just accept her back like this?

Connor finds her curled up at the beach, and he's holding two large smores with extra chocolate in his hands.

"If you won't be at campfire, then the campfire will have to come to you," he smiles a really cheesy grin, and hands her the gooey treat.

She thanks him, but politely refuses the offer of building a fire.

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9. _cabin nine_

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The new counselor, Jake Mason, offers to fix her spear, since it cracked during the Battle of Manhattan. Lou asks what happened to Beckendorf, and the awkward silence is deafening.

She's ready to burst into tears or flee the sight in guilt and sorrow, or something just as dramatic as television shows nowadays, when Connor randomly comes in between them, waving around his sword and whining about how dirty it is, and a shine is the very least the brave blade deserves, and a sharpening would be nice, and Jake had better do it or he can kiss Stoll-smuggled goods good-bye-

"I get it!" shouts the poor counselor, and Lou silently follows the two bickering boys to the forge, where it's revealed that Connor's blade is in perfect condition.

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10. _ten counselors_

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Annabeth, Clarisse, Travis, Clovis, Butch, Piper, Jason, Leo, Miranda, and her.

It's not her first meeting as the counselor of Cabin Twenty, but it's the first time she sees only one of the Stoll brothers there, the other one missing.

During the entire time, she wonders just what happened, barely paying attention (oh, there are Romans. That's nice, but where's Connor?) when she realizes that she is obsessed with the Hermes boy.

After the other counselors leave, she goes off in search for the demigod with the excuse of telling him about the meeting, and finds him raiding camp stores. Typical.

"Want one?" he waves a package of Oreos at her, and her resolve melts at the sight of the cookies that were her best friends from when she first ate one.

So instead of filling him in on just what happened inside the meeting (minus her realization of her obsession with him) like she had originally planned, they end up eating Oreos under a tree.

And maybe Lou Ellen will let him know later, when things are more settled down.

She can wait; she knows how to count to ten.

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In my head canon, Lou Ellen, who apparently has no last name (but Camp Half-Blood Wikia says that her last name is Ellen) came to camp around the Titan's Curse, but joined Kronos (because of her mother), but then came back to camp. The time-setting was a nightmare, as were the numbers.

And of course, in my head-canon, Connor and Lou Ellen love each other. XD

Rant/long explaination aside, reviews are VERY appreciated.

~Ten-Faced~


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